Pea cleaning and sorting machine



Sept. 1 929.

G. J. OLNEY PEA CLEANING AND SORTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 3, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 wveul 4 Sheets- Sheet 2 illllllll ,,lll

G. J. OLNEY PEA CLEANING AND SORTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 3, 1926 an'oento'v Sept. 10, 1929.

, Sept. 10, 1929. O N Y 1,728,076 A PEA CLEANING AND SORTING MACHINE Fi led Aug. 5, 1926 *4 Sheets-Sheet 5 anion W1 Sept. 10, '1929. J, OLNEY PEA CLEANING AND SORTING MACHINE Filed Aug, 5. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

llhilTED STATES matte GEORGE J- OLNEY, OF WESTERNVILLE, NEW

PEA CLEANING AND SORTING MACHINE.

Application filed August 3, 1926. Serial No. 126,871.

My present invention relates to a pea cleaningand sorting machine.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a new and improved form of pea cleaning and sorting machine, which machine is simple and durable in construction, adapted to be readily used under varying circumstances and With varying sorts of peas and which machine furthermore will regularly and eiiiciently separate the split peas, pea skins and all forms of foreign matter from the good Whole peas. I further purpose is to provide a machin of the class described which adapted to be readily adjusted to perform its function upon the different sizes or grades of peas. A further purpose is to provide a machine of the sort described having an improved feeding mechanism for regulating the initial delivery of the peas to the vibrating screen; to provide upon the vibrating screen in'iproved means for. distributing the peas and matter accompanying the peas over the vibrating; screen; and generally to provide successive mechanisms and combinations of the parts of the machine so that the peas and accompanying matter are subjected suc' cessively to several sorting, cleaning and separating actions so that the dirt, stones, leaves, stems, pods, skins and part of peas may be separated at one or more operations from the peas and substantially all of the good peas ultimately delivered to the container therefor. A. further purpose is to provide in such a cleaning and sorting machine an inclined upwardly traveling belt to Which the peas are delivered and upon Which they are subjected to a current of air with means to change the inclination or slant of said movclt so to adapt the machine for most icnt operation according to the size and character of peas being cleaned and sorted. Further purposes and advantages of my invention Will appear from the specification and claims herein.

. l is a left hant. side elevation of a no QilllJOLlj ing my invention. his.

mac 1i 2 is a simila side of the machine.

view of the right hand Fig. 3 is a top View ofthc machine with the fan, feeding device and certain other parts not shown or removed in order to more clearly show the construction of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on an enlarged scale through one of the beltcarrying frames and adjacent part of the screen.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular descriptiom it may be noted that the machine in general comprises a suitable bed plate 10, fan 11, fan frame 12, main side frames l3, belt-carrying frame i l with inclined conveyor belt 15 thereon, vibrating screen 16 to deliver the peas to said belt and initial feeding mechanism generally denoted by the numeral 17 and including hop per 18, and means innnediately therebelow for regulating the feed of the peas from the hopper.

Driven shaft 19 supported upon the fan frame 12 has mounted'there'on the blades 20 v for the fan. 11 Which blades revolve Within the fan casing 21 and deliver air in an obvious manner through the horizontally-arranged air conduit 22 to a zone A below the (ilelivery or lower end of the conveyor belt 15.

In. the feeding device 17 the hopper 18 is swingingly mounted upon a transversely extending and suitably supported rod'23; Below the hopper located a feed roll 24: rotatedanticlockwise as seen in Fig. l by suitable beltconnections to the'main shaft 38, such connections not being shown. To the left of this feed roll is aneccentrically mounted acljustingroll 25 the position of which is lined by adjusting the hand lever 26 so as to increase or decrease in an obvious manner the effective space between the faces of the iJWO rolls 24 and 25 and sothe effective outlet from the hopper 18. It Will be understood that the hopper l8 rests upon the top of the eccentric roll 25 and moves with the adjustment ofsaid roll so as to allow no peas to escape between the hopper and the top of the roll 25. It will be seen that this feeding device gives a readily operatedmeans for veryaccurately obtaininga regular supply of the proper amount of peas from the hopper 18.

Suitably mounted in the upper part of the two side frames 13 there is provided the shaft 27 driven by its pulley 28 being connected by a belt 29 to a pulley 30 upon the driven shaft 19 of the fan.

Upon this upper shaft 27 there is located an eccentric 31 engaged by an eccentric collar 32 at the rear or left hand end as seen in Fig. 1 of rod 33 which extends to the front end ofthe screen 16 and vibrates the same in an obvious manner through the rotation of the eccentric 31. Such vibrating motion of the screen 16 is allowed through the front end of said screen being supported at its opposite forward corners upon thin upright supporting members 34 of suitable resilient material. Above the screen 16 are placed water supply pipes 35 having numerous outlet-s 35 whereby water from the pipes is directed in a spray down upon the peas and other material upon the screen 16. This water aids in washing the peas and operates with the screen to separate any bunch or mass of peas, pea skins and foreign matter. The water, fine dirt or other foreign matter passes down through the screen 16 to the apron 36 therebelow from which it is continuously removed by passing from spout 37 to a suitable outlet (not shown).

A shaft 38 has its opposite ends suitably mounted in the side frames 13 and upon this shaft there are swingingly mounted the belt-carrying frames 14. In the preferred form of my machine and as shown in Fig. 3 there. will be two of these belt-carrying frames each having its own conveyor belt. It will be obvious that the machine could be constructed with only one conveyor belt or might be made with more than two con,- veyor belts. As the frames and parts thereof are similar it is necessary to describe only one frame and the parts thereof. The beltcarrying frame has two side-plates 39 each pierced midway its length by the supporting shaft 38. On shafts 40 and 41 rotatably mounted respectively in the upper and lower ends of the said. side plates 39 are provided t 1e upper and lower rollers 42 and 43 respectively with the conveyor belt 15 mounted upon said rollers and preferably held from lateral displacement thereon b means of flanges 44 upon the ends of eac1 roller. The upper and lower shafts 40 and 41 are each provided outside the outer side plate 39 with gear wheels 45 and 46 respectively. Said gear wheels are driven by sprocket chain 47 which in turn is driven by sprocket wheel 48 mounted upon the supporting shaft 38. This supporting shaft isslowly rotated in a direction to cause a slow upward travel of the upper length of the belt 15. This slow rotation of the shaft 38 is brought about by the connections between said shaft 38 and the upper shaft 27 which connections are upon the outside of the right hand side-frame of the machine and appear in Fig. 2. As already mentioned the upper shaft 27 is a driven shaft. Upon the end of said shaft projecting outside of the right side frame of the machine there is fixed a worm 49 which'is in mesh with a worm wheel 50 mounted near the upper end of worm shaft 51 suitably secured by brackets to this side frame. Near the lower end of this worm shaft there is a worm 52 which in turn engages with a worm wheel 53 on the end of the shaft 38 which projects beyond this side frame of the machine. By reason of these two successive sets of worms and worm wheels the rapid movement of the upper shaft 27 of say 550 revolutions a minute is reduced to say 24 revolutions per minute of the belt driving shaft 38.

Intermediate the main supporting and driving shaft 38 of the belt-carrying frame and the lower sprocket wheel 46 there is slidingly and adjustably mounted upon the outer side plate of each belt-carrying frame a bracket 54 carryinga stub shaft 55 upon which is mounted a sprocket wheel 56 over the upper side of which travels the lower length of the sprocket chain 47. This arrangement insures proper contact of the chain with the driving sprocket 48 located upon this projecting end of the shaft 38. Adjustment of the bracket 54 may be had as needed to take up slack or wear in the chain and also to allow for adjustment of the upper roller 52 lengthwise of the frame 14 as needed to keepv the belt 15 sufficiently tight upon the upper and lower rollers 42 and 43. Such adjustment of the upper roller 42 is had by each end of the upper shaft 40 being mounted in a bearing box 58'sliding- 1y mounted in its end of the side plate 39 and adjustably held in place by means of a screw-threaded rod 59 extending from said bearing box and engaged by a nutGO.

In adjusting the machine for most efiicient operation upon different sizes and grades of peas it is advisable to change the angle or slant of the conveyor belt 15 and this is accom )lished b swin in the whole belt frame 14 upon its supporting shaft 38. Such ad ustment is made and maintained by means of a. link 61 pivotally connected at its lower end to the lower portion of the side plate bar 66 which GX JGHQS back past the side frame 13 and is there provided with a series of notches 6( upon the lower side of said bar any one of which notches may be brought into engagement with the shank portion of a screw-threaded pin 68 mounted in said side frame 13 with. projecting fingers 69 upon the head of said pin for ready manual tightening and loosening of said pin. It will now be seen that as these parts are seen in Fig. l the lower end of the belt frame may be raised by loosening the pin 68 and sliding the bar 66 to theright so that another of the notches 67 will be brought into register with the shank of said pin. The movement of this bar to the right swings the arm 64 to the right and thereby raises the arm 62 which carries upwardly the lower end of the belt frame.

As seen more particularly in Fig. 4, spaced above the upper run of the conveyor belt 15 there are provided upper and lower covers 70 and 71 respectively, the lateral edges of which are suitably secured to the opposite side plates 39 near or at their upper edges. These covers may be conveniently formed of sheet metal. The lower cover 71 is spaced appreciably farther from the belt 15 than is the uppercover 70. The lower end 72 of the upper cover terminates directly opposite the main shaft 38 of the bolt frame and its upper end terminates a little above the shaft of the upper roller 4-2.

The lower cover 7 '1 extends upwardly parallel with the belt 15to a line spaced clownwardly a little from the bottom edge 72-of the upper cover 70 and from this line the upper cover curves downwardly as at 111 to about the level as at 1120f the upper cover 70 and then is provided with a portion 73 extending almost directly upward as seen in Fig. 4 for a short distance and then turns back to the right forming an initial receiving platform 74 parallel with and spaced slightly from the lower end of the vibrating screen 16. This lower end of the vibrating screen 16 is kept closely in the same relative position to the platform 7 4 through the fact that the lower end of said screen is supported at its opposite sides by links 75 piv otally attached to said screen and extending down to and pivotally attached to the side plates 39 of the belt supporting frame. It

. will thus be seen that when the belt supporting frame is swung bodily on its shaft 38 to adjust the belt to work upon the different sizes of peas the screen 16 will be carried upwardly or downwardly a short distance and the same distance as the platform 74:. The pivotal connection of the links 75 allow for the back and forth movement of the screen 16 as it vibrates longitudinally of the machine.

The upper cover 70 is spaced about an inch from the belt 15 and lower cover 71 is spaced. about an inch and a half from the belt.

Against the rolled lower edge of the lower cover 71 there is slidingly, and swingingly held in more or less of an upright position the adjustable apron 77 This adjustable apron is in width a little less than the distance between the two side plates 39 of the belt frame and this adjustable apron entends downwardly so that its lower edge is about at the bottom of the zone A at the outlet of the air conduit 22. The upper part of the apron 77 is held against the lower rolled edge by rod 78 at the outside, that is the front ofthe machine or to the right of the apron as the parts are seen in Figs. 1 and 4c. Said rod 78 has its ends slidingly mounted in elongated slots in brackets 79 provided at the upper forward corners of the belt frame side plates 39. Coiled springs 80 having one end suitably secured to the inward end of said brackets 79 and their other ends attached to the pro jecting ends of the rod 78 hold the rod 78 yieldingly against the apron 77.

At the bottom of the-apron 77 is rotatably mounted a transversely extending shaft 81 having fastened thereto at its opposite ends a pinion 82 which meshes with a rack 83 placed upon the bed plate 10 of the machine. The pinions 82 are held down against the rack by a horizontal rod 85 which bears against the shaft 81 at each of its ends be tween the pinions 82and the apron 77. This rod has its left hand end asseen in Fig. 1 pivotally attached to the main frame 13 while its forward end is held in alignment with the rack by a bolt 86 with the rod suitably held spaced from the rack by means of a spring87 coiled about said bolt. To the square or other angular shaped end of shaft 81 is applied a hand crank 88. By move ment of'this hand crank clockwise the lower end of the. apron will be moved out from the vertical position shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 4 to the position CC shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 or by rotation of said hand crank anticlockwise the lower end of the apron may be swung inwardly between the end plateslt) more or less to the position shown by the dotted lines DD in Fig. 4:.

It will now be seen that when the lower end of the apron is swung towards the air conduit 2:2 more of the air will be diverted downwardly slightly past said rod as needed when the apron is swung from an upright posltion. It will be seen that the apron will stay in the position to which-it is ad-.

rent of air that will be supplied to the ma chine. It will be understood that upon the nicety and regularity of such adjustment depends very largely the success and efficiency of the machine in question. The sliding and swinging connection of the apron 77 with the belt frame allows of the belt frame being swung on its shaft 38 to any desired angle. After such adjustment the lower end of the apron may if necessary be adjusted as indicated to the propel angle to get the desired current of air to the pas sageway 95.

The general operation of the machine so far described will be as follows: The peas will fall from the hopper 18 through the space between the rotating roller 2% and the adjustable but normally stationary roll to the upper end of the vibrating screen 16. The rotating roller 24 aids in procuring a regular feed from the hopper and in preventing any clogging or accumulation of material at this feeding mechanism. The peas and accompanying matter all from this feeding mechanism 17 to the screen 16 at about the point indicated by the letter B upon the screen 16 in Fig. 3. The back and forth, that is longitudinal vibrating motion, of this screen is indicated by the double pointed arrows at the sides of the screen. In order to aid in rapidly spreading out the peas and other accompanying material over the whole width of the screen and so over the whole width of the belt 15 to which the screen delivers the material there are provided near the upper end of the screen two series of deflecting plates or cleats upstanding say about an inch. The plates 0]": each series slant towards the side oi the screen. The upper plates 108 are spaced slightly from each other at their upper ends and each take a part of the material at the delivery point B but allow part the material to pass down between, the plates. The next lower plates 109 are spaced a little down from the lower end of the first plates and again slant outwardly and operate to take part of the material from the plate 108 and allow part of the material to pass down towards the center of the screen through the opening be tween plates 108 and 109 as indicated by arrow marks upon Fig. 3. A third deflecting plate 110 is provided upon each sid similarly spaced downwardly and outwardly and allowing part or the peas and other matter to pass between the plates 109 and 110 towards the center of the screen and carrying the remaining part farther out upon the screen to a position near the extreme sides of the screen. As the peas and accompanying matter travel down the slanting vibrating screen 16 the water de- 'scending from the pipes 35 washes the peas and carries the dirt and fine matter through the screen to the apron 86 below the screen. The descending jets of water also help to separate any bunches of peas, skins, pods or other matter. If as is the usual practice, the peas have been thoroughly washed before reaching the machine the water spray may be omitted.

The various courses of travel of the peas and accompanying matter as they leave the screen 16 and descend into the passageway immediately above the upper length of the belt 15 is more particularly indicated by the several dotted lines upon Fig. l of the drawings. The slant of the screen 16 and the combined back and forth and up and down motion of said screen imparts a vigorous mot-ion to the material on the screen and as it leaves the screen. Some 01"" the peas and a good deal of the other matter lands with more or less of a rolling action upon the lower part of the platform 74 of the lower cover 71. From here the peas and certain parts of the other matter roll in the same general direction to the upper surface of the lower end of the upper cover 70. Some of the material slides from the platform directly into the inlet 90. On account of their weight the peas are tossedcup and down by the up and down motion of the lower end of the screen so that many of the peas do not land at all on the platform 74 but follow the course of either of the two upper dotted lines to the cover and then roll down to'the inlet 90. All the material ultimately falls through the inlet between the-lower end 72 of the upper cover 70 and the platform 74: into the space above the belt. As the peas and other matter fall into this passageway the ascending current of air halts the downward motion of all the material somewhat, but particularly the lighter material, that is skins, leaves or pods. Part of the air coming up the passageway between the lower cover 71 and the belt escapes through the opening 90. The downward curve 111 of the lower cover at its upper end makes the current of air opposite the point 112 very strong and starts a large portion of the light material upwardly into the passageway 91 below the upper cover between the lower end 72 of the upper coverand the upper end of the lower cover 71. The air so escaping operates as above mentioned to arrest somewhat the falling motion of all the matter but more particularly the matter other than peas. As the peas and all the other matter fall to the belt 15 the lighter matter has already been given an upward motion by the (Lil air and urged by the upward motion of air through the passageway 91 and helped also by the ascending travel of the upper length of the belt the pieces of skins, pieces of pods, portions of peas and pea skins and other foreign matter generally is carried up through the passage 91 upon the belt and over the upper end of the belt and deposited into a chute 92 from which this foreign matter is constantly or periodically removed. A rubber or other flexible scraper 93 is held against the surface of the belt at the lower side of the upper roller 42 by means of a suitable strip 94 extending across the belt su11 porting frame. From the inlet opening the good peas, that is the whole peas, tend to roll. down the belt and against the air traveling upward through the passageway 95 between the belt and the lower cover 71. It will be seen that the main principle relied on to sort the good peas from the parts of peas and from other foreign matter is that the good whole peas being round will continue to roll down the belt while other matter will sooner or later be carried upward by the combined action of the belt and air into the chute 92 for refuse. Split peas may roll for a time down the belt but before they come to the lower end of the belt will strike their flat side and then will roll no longer, but will be carried upwardly upon the belt and dumped into the chute 92. The good peas fall from the lower end of the belt 15 guided by the apron 77 into a suitable hopper 96 leading to a suitable receptacle or conveyance not shown.

The importance of being able to readily adjust the inclination of the belt 15 by moving the belt frame lies in the fact that the smaller sizes of peas require the belt to be inclined more from the horizontal plane in order to have such small peas roll down the belt with regularity. On the other hand larger sizes of peas will roll down a less inclined belt with sullicient regularity to sort the good peas from the other matter. It will be understood that the peas have been assorted to standard sizes or grades before they reach this machine; and that only one size of peas will be fed through this machine at any one time. The machine will therefore be adjusted to that size of peas by moving the inclined belt to the proper inclination for that size of peas- When a larger size of peas is to be cleaned, the belt frame will be moved to the proper angle more nearly approaching horizonml, and when smaller peas are to be cleaned themachine will be adjusted thereto by moving the belt frame to an angle farther from horizontal. It will be noted furthermore that temporary or slight modifications may be made in the angle of the belt to adapt the machine to temporary or "unusual, conditions.

supporting frame is swingingly mounted onthe shaft 38 midway the length of the said frame and opposite the inlet open-' ing 90. The mounting of the frame midway of its length produces a maximum of adjustability of the frame as a whole with a minimum of shifting of either end of the frame. The placing of the inlet open ing 90 opposite the mounting shaft 38 enables the belt to be swung more towards or from the horizontal position without appreciably afiecting the relative position of the delivering screen 16 and the platform 74 since the supports 75 hold the screen at desired space above the platform 75% but allow the belt supporting frame to be moved as needed. The importance of "being able to change the inclination of the belt frame and belt withoutappreciably changing the distance between the screen 16 and the 'platform 7 and without appreciably changing the angle and without changing at all the distance between the platform 74' and the end 72 of the upper cover 70 resides in the factthat the inclination of the belt may be changed as necessary for different sizes of peas without affecting the strength of the air current inthe passageways 95 and 91 and through the inlet opening 90. It. is obviousthat if the changing of theinelination of the belt appreciably varied "the distance between the lower end ofthe screen and "the platform 74 the gravity or momentum of the peas and other material wouldv be varied and so would get a'different action upon the peas and other matter falling through the opening 90. It will be seen especially that the swinging adjustment of the belt frame will not affect the current of air throughthe inlet opening 90 or through the working passages '95 and 91 and so will not affect the action of the air or of the belt upon the peas and foreignmatter.

It sometimes happens that good peas are caught upon the belt above one or two pieces of foreign matter and cannotrol'l down the belt; but are carried over the upper end of the belt with the waste matter. To obviate this source ofwaste I provide an agitating or raking device consisting of a rake bar 97 slidingly mounted in the upper part of the side plates 39 of each belt-frame with fingers 98 extending to and resting down upon the upper part of the belt near its upper end.

ing the belt frame and the screen 16 are notother end of which is pivotally connected to the middle portion of a main control bar 102 slidingly and non-rotatingly mounted near its opposite ends in suitable bearings 103 provided upon the side frame members 13 (see Fig. 3). Opposite the central portion of each frame belt there is provided upon this control bar 102 between two fixed spacing collars 104 a swinging arm 105 proj ecting downwardly to have its forked lower end engage the groove 106 of a block 107 upon the rake bar 97. The arms 105 may swing as needed upon the control bar 102 to let the arm 105 engage the block 107 not-- withstanding the swinging adjustment of the belt frames.

It will be noticed that supports 7 5 connectvert-ical but slant appreciably so that part of the reciprocating motion given the front end of the screen 16 by rods 33 is converted into an up and down motion of successively greater degree towards the inner end of the,

- passageway and. an apron depending from screens. This double motion of the agitating screen helps very greatly to keep. the screen clean and particularly to shake up the split peas so that they will strike the screen e'dgewise and go through the screen as is de-- sired at this part of the machine. If the screen were simply moving back and forth in a straight line the split peas may slide the whole length of the screen without being removed. This agitation also helps to spread the peas upon the screen and also to keep them spread out very widely as they leave the screen. Ihe larger peas follow either of the upper dotted lines from the screen (Fig. 4) and land well'up on the cover giving the air coming from the opening that much more access to the, peas.

W hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to drive said belt, a casing spaced from the upper length of the belt, andforming an air. passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate its ends, means to deliver peas to said inlet,.means for supplying a current of air to a zone adjacent to the.

lower end of said passageway and an apron depending from the lower edge of said casing and adjustable to direct more or less of said current of air to said passageway.

2. In a pea cleaning and-sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame, anendless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to drive said belt, a casing spaced fromthe upper length of the belt and forming an air passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate its ends, means to deliver peas to said inlet, means for supplying acurrent of air-to a zone adjacent the lower end of said passageway and an apron depending from the lower edge of said casing and adjustable to various angles to direct more or less of said current of air to said passageway.

3. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame swingingly mounted on said main support to allow the inclination of the belt frame to be adjusted, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to adjust and hold said belt frame at various inclinations, means to drive said belt, a casing spacedfrom the upper length of the belt and forming an air passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate'its ends, means to deliver peas to said inlet, means for supplying a current of air to a zone adjacent the lower end of said the lower edge of said casing and adjustable to direct more or less of said current of air to said passageway.

a. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame swingingly mounted on said main support to allow the inclination of the belt frame to be adjusted, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to adjust and hold said belt frame at various inclinations, means to drive said belt, a casing spaced from the upper length of the belt and forming an air passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate its ends, means to deliver peas to said inlet, means for supplying a current of air to a zone adjacent the lower end of said passageway and an apron depending from the lower edge of said casing and adjust ble to various angles to direct more or less of said current of air to said passageway.

5. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame swingingly mounted on said main support to allow the inclination of thebelt frame to be adjusted, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to adjust and-hold said belt frame at various inclinations, means to drive said belt, a casing spaced from the upper length of the beltand forming an air passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate its ends, means to deliver peas to said inlet, means for supplying a current of air to a zone adjacent the lower end of said passageway and an apron slidingly dcpending from the lower edge of said casing and adjustable to direct more or less of said current of air to said passageway.

6. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame swingingly mounted on said main support to allow the inclination of the belt frame to be adjusted, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to adjust and hold said belt frame at various inclinations, means to drive said belt, a casing spaced from the upper length of the belt and forming an air passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate its ends, means to deliver peas to said inlet, means for supplying a current of air to a zone adjacent the lower end of said passageway and an apron depending from the lower edge ofrsaid casing and adj ustable by means at its lower end in engagement with said main support to direct more or less of said current of air to said passageway.

7. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to drive said bel", a casing spaced from the upper length of the belt and forming an air passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate its ends, means to cleliver peas to said inlet and means for supplying a current of air to the lower end of said passageway whereby a current of air is directed upwardly between the casing and the upper length of the belt and a raking device comprising a. rake bar mounted in the belt frame to reciprocate transversely thereof, fingers extending from said bar to the upper portion of the belt and means to move said rake bar.

8. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an. inclined ljielt-carrying frame swingingly mounted on said main support to allow the inclination of the belt frame to be adjusted, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said belt frame to have its upper length ascend, means to adjust and hold said belt frame at various inclinations, means to drive said belt, means to deliver peas to said belt and a raking device comprising a rake bar mounted in the belt frame to reciprocate transversely thereof, fingers extending from said bar to the upper portion of the belt and means mounted on said main support and adapted to engage and impart a reciprocating motion to said rake bar at any position of the belt frame.

9. In a pea cleaning and sorting machine the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame swingingly mounted on said main support to allow the inclination of the belt frame to be adjusted,

an endless conveyor beltmounted on said belt frame to have 1ts upper length ascend, means to ad ust and hold said belt frame at various inclinations, means to drive said belt, a casing spaced from the upper length of the belt and forming an air passageway thereabove and having a feed inlet thereinto intermediate its ends, means to deliver peas to said inlet means for sn 1 in a current a reciprocating motion to said rake bar at i any position of the belt frame.

10. in a pea cleaning and sorting machine, the combination of a main support, an inclined belt-carrying frame swingingly mounted on said main support to allow the inclination of the belt frame to be adjusted, a conveyor belt on said belt frame, means to drive said belt,a screening chute adapted to deliver peas to said belt, said screen being movably mounted on said support and pivotally connected at its delivery end to said belt frame whereby said screen follows the movement of said belt frame.

11. In a machine of the class described the combination of an inclined belt supporting frame, an endless conveyor belt mounted on said frame to have its upper length ascend, a casing formed of two parts substantially equal in length and spaced from the upper length of said belt and having an inlet opening between its parts, the part of said casing below said inlet being spaced farther from said belt than is the upper part, but with the upper end of said lower part eX-- tended down to approximately the level of the upper casing and means for supplying a current of air to the space between the belt and the lower end of the part of said casing below the inlet opening.

In witness whereof he has affixed his signature, this 7th day of July, 1926.

GEORGE J. OLNEY. 

